The present invention is directed to medical or dental handpieces for the performance of treatments involving the application of laser radiation. Such treatments include, inter alia, cutting, or vaporizing, coagulating, sterilizing and promoting healing processes.
A variety of treatments of this type have already been proposed or are in use, and a number of handpieces for delivery of such radiation are already known in the art. Examples of such handpieces are disclosed in "Introduction of New Dental Oral YAG Laser Handpiece and Its Clinical Application", by Yoshida et al, published in May of 1989 in LASERS IN DENTISTRY, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (Biomedical Division), and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,826,431; 4,849,859; 4,503,853; 4,273,535; and 4,538,609.
It has recently been found that certain treatments, such as the cutting of hard tissue, can be safely performed by applying laser radiation at higher power levels than have been heretofore used. However, the known handpieces are not well suited for conducting radiation at such higher power levels.